Life SciencesRSS

  • February 23, 2007

    Medco Health Unit Settles Overbilling Suit For $5.3M

    A subsidiary of drug benefit program administrator Medco Health Systems has agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle claims of overbilling.

  • February 23, 2007

    Sale Of Generic Lipitor Blocked In Denmark

    A Danish court has allegedly blocked the sale of a generic version of Lipitor until after a patent infringement lawsuit is decided between Pfizer Inc. and generic rival Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.

  • February 23, 2007

    Attorneys Spared Costs In Cardizem Case

    Courts cannot impose administrative fees upon an attorney unless there is a finding of misconduct, a circuit court has ruled in relation to an $80 million antitrust settlement over an authorized generic of high blood pressure drug Cardizem CD.

  • February 22, 2007

    Caraco Seeks Judgment On Lexapro Patent

    In an attempt to horn in on the lucrative market for depression drug Lexapro, Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. has filed a lawsuit looking to force a court ruling on a patent licensed to Forest Laboratories Holdings Ltd.

  • February 22, 2007

    Merck Donated To Vaccine-Friendly Governor: Report

    New information is developing in the wake of Merck & Co.’s decision to rescind its controversial cervical cancer vaccine lobbying campaign, with documents reportedly revealing the drug maker donated money to the governor of the first state to require the immunization.

  • February 22, 2007

    Hospital Sued For Washing Scalpels In Elevator Fluid

    A North Carolina hospital faces a negligence lawsuit more than two years after patients were exposed to surgical tools soaked in used elevator hydraulic fluid.

  • February 23, 2007

    SonoSite, Zonare Clash Over Ultrasound Patent

    Two companies that manufacture compact ultrasound systems are squaring off in a California court over a patent that covers a portable ultrasound unit weighing less than 10 pounds.

  • February 22, 2007

    Spat Over Cold Medicine Leads To Suits

    Two drug companies have initiated suits against each other in a dispute over a patent covering cold medicine to treat congestion.

  • February 22, 2007

    ITC Judge To Rehear Smallpox Patent Fight

    An International Trade Commission administrative law judge, who previously ruled that Bavarian Nordic’s patents for a smallpox vaccine were invalid, will now be forced to rehear the case from scratch, Bavarian Nordic said.

  • February 22, 2007

    USPTO Delivers Setback To Genentech

    In a blow for Genentech Inc., regulators at the United States Patent & Trademark Office have called into question the patent at the center of the biotech’s longstanding royalty battle with MedImmune Inc. over an infant respiratory drug.

  • February 21, 2007

    Merck Backs Away From Gardasil Lobbying

    Buckling under pressure, Merck & Co. is abandoning its controversial lobbying campaign for states to require pre-teen girls to receive its three-shot cervical cancer vaccine in order to attend school.

  • February 21, 2007

    Medical Device Co. Receives FDA Warning

    Edwards Lifesciences Corp., which makes artificial heart valves, may face product approval delays after being scolded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over conditions at its California plant.

  • February 21, 2007

    Catheter Maker Seeks To Overturn Jury Verdict

    A Colorado Springs, Colo.-based medical device manufacturer has asked a federal court to overturn an adverse jury verdict in a patent infringement suit over laser catheters.

  • February 21, 2007

    Suits Pile Up Over Human Tissue

    A South Dakota couple has filed a lawsuit alleging the wife had blood tissue from a cadaver inserted in her during a spinal surgery, making her vulnerable to HIV, hepatitis and other infectious diseases.

  • February 21, 2007

    ADHD Drug Makers Must Warn Of Side Effects: FDA

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ordered manufacturers of drugs prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to develop guides to alert patients of possible risks, including mental problems, heart problems and sudden death.

  • February 21, 2007

    Ex-Biopure CEO Settles Blood Substitute Case

    Biopure Corp.’s former chief executive has resolved allegations that the pharmaceutical company continued to paint a rosy picture of its blood substitute awaiting approval, despite receiving negative feedback from U.S. federal regulators over the product’s safety.

  • February 20, 2007

    Wyeth Loses 2nd Prempro Trial; Jury Awards $3M

    Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has lost a second trial in Philadelphia over the controversial hormone replacement therapy, Prempro, with a jury awarding a breast cancer sufferer and her husband $3 million.

  • February 20, 2007

    Supreme Court Hearing Set For Microsoft, AT&T Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a patent case Wednesday concerning whether infringement damages under U.S. patent law extend to software products sold overseas.

  • February 20, 2007

    Serono Agrees To $24M Settlement Over AIDS Drug

    Drug maker EMD Serono Inc. has agreed to shell out $24 million to settle a cluster of class action lawsuits alleging the company illegally promoted a popular AIDS drug and paid doctors to prescribe it.

  • February 20, 2007

    Enzyme Patent Dispute Settled For $8.2M

    Danish biotech company Danisco A/S will pay rival Novozymes A/S over $8.2 million to settle an ongoing patent infringement suit after a district court judge ruled Monday that Danisco willfully infringed Novozymes’ patent for the enzyme Spezyme Ethyl.